All posts tagged "Federalism"

The efforts Mark Meadows and others criminally charged alongside Donald Trump are going through to move their Georgia cases to federal court show a recent pattern in Republican attempts to undermine the states' rights, a legal analyst said Saturday.

The GOP has long been known for championing states' rights, but the Meadows' removal attempt is the second case in recent memory in which Republicans attempted to undermine that principle, MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin said. The first, she said, is Moore v. Harper, which concerns the ability of state courts to enforce state constitutions and state laws in elections, according to reports.

"It struck me tonight that Meadows’s removal motions (and those of his co-defendants) is the second major conservative effort this year to ice out state courts from their role in election-related disputes. The first? Moore v. Harper, of course," Rubin wrote.
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States United Democracy Center Co-Founder and Executive Chair Norm Eisen and Savannah, Georgia criminal defense and appellate attorney Amy Lee Copeland published an opinion column in Tuesday's New York Times exploring why Willis' case "is a reminder of the genius of American federalism" because "when our democracy is threatened, states have an indispensable part to play in protecting it."

First, the authors begin by noting that the complaint against Trump in Georgia holds key distinctions from those filed by United States Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, namely that it "charges a wide range of conspirators" and that the trial "will almost certainly be televised."

Eisen and Copeland believe that it "stands out, above all, because Georgia uniquely compelling evidence of election interference — and a set of state criminal statutes tailor-made for the sprawling, loosely organized wrongdoing."...